Welded journal box



April 24, 1951 J. MIKIULAK' ET AL 2,550,284

, WELDED JOURNAL BOX Filed Dec. 17, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 0 Eda/2725.512? t WW4 ATTORNEY April 1951 J. MIKULAK ET AL 2550 284 WELDED JOURNAL BOX Filed Dec. 17, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 &

\\7IIIIIIIIIIIIIII4 //////////////4 //////lZ(//J INVENTORS BYMjfl/M ATTORNEY April 24, 1951 J. MIKULAK ET AL WELDED JOURNAL BOX 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 17, 1947 0 w llllJ Ml April 24-, 1951 J. MIKULAK ETAL WELDED JOURNAL Bdx 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 17. 1947 4 INVENTORS Jahn Mz'kulak JoknASober WJ/ QiiWzn BJS'uZf ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 24, 1951 WELDED JOURNAL BOX John Mikulak, Nescopeck, John A. Sober, Bloomsburg, and Edwin B. Sult, Berwick, Pa., assignors to American Car and Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 17, 1947, Serial No. 792,276

11 Claims.

This invention relates to journal boxes in general and in particular to welded journal boxes for usev with railway type cars. V l i Practically all railway type journal boxes now in use are cast in one piece and necessarily are extremely heavy since even in the portions of the box which carry no load the metal must be sufficiently thick to permit proper pouring. Since the journal boxes are mounted directly on the axles, theymust of necessity be unsprung and while the added unsprung weight of cast boxes is not particularly harmful at low speeds, it becomesextremely harmful at the higher speeds and particularly at the harmonic speeds which depend principally on the rail lengths. By proper use of forgings and pressings a journal box can be built at a weight saving of slightly more than fifty pounds per box. In other words, the unsprung weight per axle can be reduced slightly more than one hundred pounds. It is an object, therefore of the present invention to provide a light weight journal box made up of forgings and pressings welded together. A further object of the invention is the provision of a welded journal box in which bearing positioning projections are pressed in the oil well section.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a journal box formed of forged and pressed sections welded together and additionally tied by the outer closure plate and pedestal guide straps.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accompanying drawings, in which I Fig. 1 is an outer end elevation of one form of the journal box;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of this journal box;

Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively side and inner end elevations;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 1; v

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken substantially on line of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the oil well section with parts broken away to better disclose the construction; N

Fig. 9 is an outer end elevational view similar to Fig. 1 but disclosing a slightly modified type of box;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on line Ill-l0 of Fig. 9; c

end wall l3.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken on line I I-Il of Fig. 10; V

I Fig. 12 is an inner end elevational view of the box of Fig. 9;

Fig. 13 is a sectional view taken substantially on line l3l3 of Fig. 10, and 7 Figs. 14 and 15 are sectional views taken substantially on lines [4-H and l5l5 of Fig. 13.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the journal boxes are made up of three principal main parts, namely, a roof section A, an oil well section B and a pan-shaped closure 0. The journal boxes chosen for illustration are of the type generally used. on subway or other cars deriving current from a third rail and accordingly they have been shown with the third rail or contactor pocket D attached. It is to be understood, of course, that for other types of boxes these contactor pockets may be eliminated and pedestal guide bars added where necessary.

The roof section A of Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive is formed as a drop forging having a fiat upper surface 2 from which extend upwardly side flanges 4 and end flanges 6 for the reception of equalizer pads (not shown). The lower surface of the roof section is curved as at 8 to closely engage and bear on the bearing races (not shown). The lower side edges of the roof section are Beveled as at III in order to receive weld metal to produce a good weld joining the roof and oil well sections together.

The oil well section B of Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive is formed as a pressing generally U-shaped in cross-section and having side walls I2 and a bottom wall I4 joined at the inner end by segmental The side walls are formed with slight recesses in order to receive hardened or other wear resisting plates l 6 welded to the sides in such a manner that they can be renewed when necessary. Upwardly of the rear plate location the sides are bulged outwardly, thence inwardly to contact with the lower edges of roof section A to which they are welded as at W. In order to stiffen the bottom wall 14 a pair of dome-shaped projections I8 is pressed upwardly and these projections are formed with an upwardly concave top surface 20 adapted to conform with and closely engage the bearing races, thus preventing downward displacement of the races in the boxes. In order to protect the sides of the drop forged roof section A, wear resisting plates 22 are welded thereto and have their outer surfaces in the same planes as the outer surfaces of wear plates l6. After welding the roof section A and oil well section B together, pedestal guide bars 24 are welded to each of the sections, thus stiffening the box and tying the sections A and B together. The inner ends of pedestal bars 24, roof section A and oil well section B are tapped as at 26 to permit attachment of an oil seal preventing discharge of oil along the axle. In order to obtain a good attachment for the oil seal to section Bit has'been found necessary to weld reenforcements or tapping lugs 28 to the inner wall of the oil well section B.

The outer end of the journal box is closed by the pan-shaped pressing .C which has its rim welded to the sections A and-B, thus 'efi'ectively sealing and closing the outer end of the journal box. In order to facilitate filling of :oil i'nith'e box a portion of the pan is pressed outwardly as at 30 and pierced to receive atube 32 internally threaded for reception of a closure plug. Drainage of the box is accomplished through a similarly adapted tube 34 (Fig. .1) welded to the pan member adjacent its lower edge.

-In the journal box shown by Figs. 9 to inclusive the roof section A is formed as a; drop forging having a bearing engaging lowersurface 40 and a curved upper surface provided with a projecting lug 42 adapted to be engaged by an equalizer receiving saddle member 44. This saddle member is designed to be held against longitudinal displacement relative to the box by projections 42 and bear on the side shoulders 46 of the drop forged roof section A. Lateral displacement of the saddle relative to the box is prevented by means of flanges 48 extending upwardly above the side shoulders 46.

The'oil well'section B of Figs. 9 to 15 is very similar in cross-section to that described in connection with Figs. 1 to 8. In this form, however, the side walls 50 each have pressed inwardly thereof a pair of projections 52,.which projections are provided with inwardly concave surfaces 54 adapted to laterally position the bearing races.

These projections extend upwardly into engagement with the lower edge of roof section A, thereby stiffening the sides of section B and increasing the amount of weld which can bedepositedjoi-ning the sections A and B together. As in the first form, the bottomwall'tili has a pair of projections 58 pressed upwardly thereof and the top surfaces 60 of these projections are-concaved upwardly to engage the lower surface of the bearing races and prevent their downward displacement. In order to receive the necessary dust seal (not shown the inner end ofsection A and section B is tapped as at .62 toreceive .fasteningmeansretaining the seal in position. After sections A and B are welded together pedestal 'bars 64 are rigidly welded to sections A and'B, thereby additionally tying these sections together. Wear resisting plates 66 are welded to walls 511 andspan the projections 52 to give a large wearing surface engageable with the truckpedestals.

The pan-shaped pressing C has "its flanges "68 welded to the outer edges of sections A and B,

thus effectively tying these sections-together and "by a drain plug 3H5 threaded in thetiibe 14.

Since the boxes ofFigs. l to 8 and 9 to 15 intype of vehicle, each is provided with a contactor elusive are illustrated for use witha third mu 4 7 pocket 18 welded to the pan pressing or closure by means of buttressing gussets and also welded to the pan closure and oil well section B by buttressing gussets 82. These buttressing gussets, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 13, are of generally channel cross-section, thereby efiec- 'tively tying the 'contactofrpocket to the box. In cases where a third rail contactor is not required these pockets and braces can be eliminated and if desired or necessary pedestal guides similar to plates 24 and 64 can be welded to the sections A and B adjacent the pan closures C. In both forms of the journal box it will be seen that the :roof section A 'is-the load transmitting member andiisiform'ed as adrop forging capable of being readily welded to the upstanding sides of the oil well 'se'c'tion'B. Inboth forms the bearings (not shown) are held in vertical position by dome shaped projections extending upwardly from the bottom wall of. section B and .a transverse taken through these projections produces .an outline similar to a flattened M, as clearly shown in Figs.

6 and 1-3. In the form shown in Eigs. .9 to .15 the side walls of .sectionBare additionally stiffened by these projections of flattened M section, thereby positioning the bearings,.stiffening the sides and giving added weldingarea' for. attachment to roof section A.

While theinvention has been described more or less in detail, it will be obvious that various modification and rearrangements .of parts. may be made and .all suchmodi'fications .and rearrangements of partsare contemplatedas will fall within the scope of the appended claims defining our invention.

What is claimed is:

.1. .A journal boxcomprisingadrop forged load transmitting .roo'f section, -a .pressed .metal oil well section welded thereto, anda pan shaped closure member having the flanged rim thereof welded to said .roof section and oil well section to reenforce the same and form the outer closure completely closing the outer end ofthe journal box. 2. 'A journal box comprising a drop forged :load transmitting roof section, a pressed oil well section welded thereto, and apair of upwardly concave dome-shaped projections pressed upwardly in the lowerwall of said oil well section to stiffen the same and retain bearings in contact with said roof section.

3. -A journal box comprising a drop-forged load transmitting roof section, -a pressed metal oil well section welded thereto along-a substantially horizontal line, vertically extending pedestal guide members projecting laterally from the sections and welded thereto to stiffen and tie the sections together, 1 and 'a pan shaped pressing having a flanged rim edge welded to the outer end of each of said sections to additionally tie the sections togetherand provide an outer closure for completely closing the outer end of the box. a r

4. A journal box comprising; a dropforged load transmitting roof section. a pressed metal oil well section welded thereto, an-d'inwardly-concave dome-shaped projections .pressed inwardly from the bottom and side walls of said oil well section to stiffen the same and serve as bearing ositioners.

5. A journal'box comprising a drop forged load transmitting roof section, a pressed metal oil well section welded thereto, inwardly concave dome-shaped projections pressed inwardly from the bottom and side walls of said oil well section to stiffen the same and serve as hearing positioners, and wear resisting metal plates welded 9 transmitting roof section, a pressed metal oil well section welded thereto, a pan shaped closure member'having the rim thereof welded to said roof section and oil well section to reenforce the same and form a complete outer closure for the journal box, and a contactor bracket projecting to one side of the box and welded to said oil well section and closure member to mutually reenforce and brace the same.

8. A journal box comprising a drop forged load transmitting roof section, a pressed metal oil well section welded thereto, a pan shaped closure member having the flanged rim edge thereof welded to said roof section and oil well section to reenforce the same and form the outer closure completely closing the outer end of the journal box, and tubular means projecting through said pan shaped member and welded thereto thereby providing filling and drain openings for said box.

9. A pressed metal oil well for journal boxes comprising a bottom wall and integral upstanding side walls, and a pair of dome-shaped projections pressed upwardly in said bottom wall and having an upwardly concave top surface to position a bearing.

10. A pressed metal oil well for journal boxes comprising a bottom wall and integral upstanding side walls, and a pair of dome-shaped projections pressed inwardly in each of said side walls and bottom wall, said projections stiffening said walls and formed with inwardly concave inner surfaces to position a bearing.

11. A journal box comprising a drop forged load transmitting roof section, a pressed metal I oil well section welded thereto, and inwardly concave dome-shaped projections pressed inwardly from the side walls of said oil well section to stiffen the same and serve as bearing positioners extending to the top edge of the side walls whereby increased weld area is obtained between said oil well and roof sections.

JOHN MIKULAK.

JOHN A. SOBER.

EDWIN B. SUL'I.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 969,933 Woods Sept. 13, 1910 1,910,518 Brittain May 23, 1933 2,133,024 Gibbons Oct. 11, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 39,443 Sweden Jan. 20. 1913 

